Service Management Support/ Assisstant Finance Partner Review

The role I started off as when joining GSK was in service management support. The role is generally quite admin based and requires a lot of reviewing and checking documents. However it was a key starting point in my apprenticeship as it gave me the basic foundation and structure to work in a huge corporate company. I also have opportunities to speak to people all around the world on a daily basis.

Where do I start... When I first joined GSK I barely knew my way around outlook! Over the past couple of months I've learnt so much. From the basics like writing emails and learning the basics of excel, to developing my communication skills by leading team meetings and having 1-1 calls with colleagues.

When I first joined GSK, I didn't know what to expect, as this was my first corporate job. What I can say is it definitely surpassed my expectations. The amount of opportunities you are given are amazing and you are treated equally to any regular employee and are given many responsibilities. The only downside I can think of is the social aspect hasn't been the best. I've been stuck working from home since I started and haven't been able to have any physical interaction, but I'm sure if we were back in the offices there would be many social opportunities.

Very well structured. I remember my first day we were sent a booklet a couple days before on how to set everything up and was also given contact to my manager before starting, so was able to ask any questions to allow as smooth start up as possible, especially as this was done at home with no supervision. I was also given a mentor for the first couple of weeks who explained my role and supported me with any questions/ queries I had.

GSK have many opportunities to help support colleagues. This comes under many forms such as: workshops, webinars, capability team, training courses and more! They also have people you can talk to if you find it your quite stressed or need extra guidance and of course your manager should also be a reliable source of contact for support.

My training provider provides us with many resources to support my learning. This includes: Attending live online lectures with a professional teacher, sending over hard copy for our course notes and question banks for each module of the course. They also have a whole website with pre-recorded lectures that I can access and mock/ practical assessments for each module.

Currently my qualification I am studying doesn't have much relevance to what my role at work is related to. However I am currently in the transition to start some new work, which will be related to what I am studying. i am sure with this new piece of work my qualification will give me a good foundation in order to be successful in this role.

At the moment, due to the restrictions from Covid-19 we have been very limited in what can be done for extra-curricular activities. However GSK have organised some events virtually e.g multiple quiz nights, a music competition and recently an escape room event. As restrictions ease more opportunities will slowly become available, but currently most events/ activities have been virtual.

Yes

GSK has an amazing community and tonnes of learning/ development opportunities. There's something out there for everyone to participate in. The on-boarding process although was all done from the my home, was still very successful and I received lots of support from my team. Also GSK is a global company, so who knows you may even have the opportunity to work abroad in the future!

The application process can be very daunting, I know I was very nervous. The best advice I can give is make sure you have real life examples/ experiences you can relate to when talking about certain competencies/skills in the interviews. I found it a lot easier to incorporate this within my life experiences. Also make sure you prepare. Research GSK and their culture have some background knowledge, so you can surprise the interviewer and prove you have put in the effort to find out more about the company. This shows you are eager and are willing to do more, which is what interviews want to see.